Upper and insole construction for open back shoes



Jan. 11, 1955 s, wHlTE 2,699,003

UPPER AND INSOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR OPEN BACK SHOES Filed may 2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J Swmea Waal'i'e Jan. 11, 1955 5. WHITE UPPER AND INSOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR OPEN BACK SHOES Filed May 2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States PatentO UPPER AND INSOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR OPEN BACK'SHOES Samuel White, Lewiston, Maine, assignor to Lown Shoes, Inc., Auburn, Maine, a corporation of Maine Application May 2, 1951, Serial No. 2244152 4 Claims. (Cl. 3619.5)

This invention relates to the manufacture of ladies open back shoes, and pertains more particularly to improvements in the manner in which the quarter portions of the upper of an open back shoe are attached to the insole of the shoe.

The principal object of the invention is to produce a ladies open back shoe in which the quarter or sling portions are fastened to the insole, at the instep of the shoe, in a novel manner which afiords economies in assembling operations and ensures correct height and snug fit at the quarters of the shoe. The improved shoe also presents a neater and more attractive appearance than open back shoes heretofore made.

Recommended embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of an upper or vamp having quarter portions shaped for assembly with an insole in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an insole used in making the improved shoe;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a shoe made with the upper and insole of Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of the sock lining of the shoe being broken away to illustrate the improved mode of attaching the quarter portions to the insole;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified shoe made in accordance with the invention, showing an upper having a short vamp and a separate quarter portion or sling attached to the insole in the manner indicated in Fig. 3.

In accordance with the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the upper of the improved shoe comprises a vamp portion 11 and integral quarter portions 12, partially separated from the vamp by notches 13 defining marginal tabs 14 of the quarters 12. The upper may be made of leather, suede or other suitable material. The insole 15 of the shoe may be made of relatively thin leather or other fiexible material, and its forepart may be centrally apertured at 16 leaving a rim or border 17 which is preferably scuffed on its upper surface. A patch (not shown) of rubber and cork composition may be applied to the underside of the apertured forepart, in accordance with common practice. A stiff shank piece 18 may be applied to the underside of the rear portion of the insole 15 and secured by cement or other fastening means, as is also common practice.

In accordance with this invention, a top piece or tuck 19, of fiber or other relatively stitf material, is cemented or otherwise fastened flatwise upon the upper surface of the rearward portion of the insole 15, the tuck having marginal notches 20 providing pockets or recesses at its opposite sides, between the heel and shank portions of the insole. These notches or pockets receive the tabs 14 of the respective quarter portions 12.

In assembling the upper and insole, the forepart of the upper is pulled over and lasted to the bottom of the insole in accordance with conventional practices, but the bottom margins or tabs 14 of the quarter portions 12 are placed in the pockets 20 and the exposed portions of the underlying insole 15, after the lasted shoe is removed from the last. The tabs are cemented to the exposed surfaces of the insole within the pockets 20, and may be additionally stitched in position, as indicated by the stitch lines 21 in Fig. 3. The notches 20 are cut to the shape of the tabs 14 of the shoe upper, so that the tabs may closely fit within the notches.

The shoe is finished in accordance with common practice, by edge-binding the rear portion of the insole Patented Jan. 11, 1955 at 22, applying a sock lining 23 to the top of the insole, thereby concealing the tabs fitted in the notches 20 of the tuck 19, attaching a heel strap 24 and buckle 25 to the rear ends of the respective quarter portions 12, as shown in Fig. 3, and securing an outsole and heel, to complete the open back shoe. If preferred, the heel strap may be stitched to both ends of the quarter as a sling.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the shoe upper comprises a relatively short vamp 26 and a separate sling 27 which constitutes the quarter portions of the open back shoe. The insole of the shoe is provided with a notched tuck and formed substantially as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the ends of the sling 27 are shaped as tabs to be received in the notches and secured therein in the same manner as explained in connection with the quarter tabs 14 of Figs. 1 and 3. The forward corners of the sling 27 may be stitched to the inner surface of the vamp (or between the vamp and its lining) as indicated at 28. The exposed edge of the insole at the heel portion of the shoe may be suitably covered with a marginal binding 29, of the same material as 'i he vamp and sling, if desired, as in the form shown in The vamp 26 (Fig. 4) is lasted to the insole in the conventional manner, but the end tabs of the sling or quarter portion of the shoe are attached to the insole by the novel procedure explained in connection with the attachment of the quarter tabs 14 of Figs. 1 and 3. This mode of attachment constitutes the essence of the present invention, and it will be apparent that this feature may be incorporated in ladies open back shoes of various styles and constructions without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

A shoe upper having the tabs of its quarter portions (which may be integral with the vamp or which may constitute separate parts of the upper) fitted within notches or pockets of a tuck piece applied to the top of the insole, as herein described, causes the quarter or sling of the shoe to hug more closely to the foot, so that the fit and appearance of the shoe is substantially en-, hanced. The quarter portions may also be fitted and applied more accurately and more easily than by following conventional lasting methods; the necessity for providing a lasting tack at the heel is eliminated; and the quarters or sling may be adjusted for proper position and height, without reference to the lasting of the vamp.

I claim:

1. In a shoe having an open heel, an{ insole having shallow recesses in its upper surface within the shank area just ahead of the breast line, and an upper having a lasting margin, said lasting margin being slit at opposite sides near its rear edges from its free edge to about the feather line, the portion of the lasting margin ahead of the slits being lasted to the underside of the insole and the portions of the margin behind the slits being lasted in the top side of the insole and being seated in said recesses.

2. An open back shoe comprising an insole, having a laminated portion extending from the ball line rearwardly, the upper lamination of the rearward portion having notches in its opposite sides, and an upper having quarter portions provided with bottom tabs bent inward and received in the respective notches and attached flatwise to the upper surface portions of the insole underlying said notches, the upper having a vamp portion lasted under the insole.

3. An open back shoe comprising an insole, having a laminated portion extending from the ball line rearwardly, the upper lamination of said rearward portion having marginal notches in its opposite sides, and an upper having integral vamp and quarter portions, the outer margins of the upper having slits defining tabs of the quarter portion, said tabs being bent inward and received in said notches and attached flatwise to the upper surface portions of the insole underlying said notches, the vamp portion being lasted under the insole, and a sock lining applied to the exposed surface of the upper lamination and concealing said tabs.

4. An open back shoe comprising an insole, having a laminated portion extending from the ball line rear- Wardly, the upper lamination of said rearward portion having marginal notches in its opposite sides, and an upper having a vamp portion and a separate quarter portion constituting a sling, the respective ends of the sling having tabs bent inward and received within the respective notches of the upper lamination and attached fiatwise to the upper surface portions of the insole underlying said notches, the vamp portion being lasted under the insole, and a sock lining applied to the exposed surface of the upper lamination and concealing said tabs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

